PREVIEW
The Columbus Crew and Houston Dynamo renew acquaintances when the two Eastern Conference clubs meet for the first time this season at Crew Stadium on Saturday evening. The Crew are coming off an undefeated two-game road swing, following a 2-2 draw in New York, then advanced in the U.S. Open Cup following a midweek victory. The Dynamo ended a two-game losing slide with a 1-1 draw at Sporting KC last weekend, then also advanced in the Open Cup with a midweek home victory.

The Houston Dynamo saw their winless run reach three games, Sporting Kansas City coming back for a 1-1 draw on Sunday afternoon at Sporting Park. The Dynamo are in fourth place in the Eastern Conference with 21 points from 13 matches.

LAST MATCH

A key talking point came in the 38th minute. Brad Davis went down under a challenge from Oriol Rosell, and referee Drew Fischer immediately pointed to the spot. But after protests from Sporting's players, Fischer conferred with assistant referee Kevin Duliba and waved off the penalty ruling.

The Dynamo took the lead in the first minute of stoppage time. Giles Barnes flicked the ball on forward to Will Bruin, who took it with his back to the defense and worked free before slotting a quick through ball to Brad Davis for a finish inside goalkeeper Jimmy Nielsen's near post.

Sporting drew even in the 68th minute. After Jacob Peterson got a touch on Oriol Rosell's through ball, Claudio Bieler's square pass found Kei Kamara just outside the area after a dummy and he slotted into the lower right corner for the equalizer.

Dynamo head coach Dominic Kinnear made two changes to the team that dropped a 2-0 decision to the New England Revolution at BBVA Compass Stadium. Eric Brunner and Adam Moffat came into the team for Jermaine Taylor and Bobby Boswell.

While the Dynamo saw their winless run extended to three games, they were able to go on the road and put an end to a two-game losing slide.

“You look at the whole 90-minute team effort and the way we played … that’s one of our better performances,” goalkeeper Tally Hall said. “It’s not a win but we look at the performance and say ‘OK, we’re back on the right track.’ You’ve got to man up, play as a team and play well and I thought we did that today.”

It was a completely new central defense partnership. Jermaine Taylor was out with a shoulder injury after being forced to come off after just 10 minutes in the New England game, and Bobby Boswell was serving the first game of his two-match suspension.

Ricardo Clark shifted from a central midfield role back into central defense, and Eric Brunner made his third league start of the season.

"We had some guys in different positions, but everyone came together. It shouldn't surprise anyone that just because we don't have everyone available in the lineup that we're going to change the way we play,” said Hall. “I think the guys that came in played excellent, and that depth and team mentality is why we're one of the better teams in the league.”

But there was another injury blow to the back line when left back Corey Ashe had to come off at halftime with a groin injury.

“I thought defensively we were pretty strong,” head coach Dominic Kinnear said. “I thought as a new back four and being together for 90 minutes and then even for 45 minutes, I thought they held up well.”

Brad Davis scored his third goal of the season, his first since April 14, and Will Bruin recorded his fourth assist to go with four goals on the year.

“After last week's game against New England, we wanted to come here and get back to the ways we're used to playing. We came out ready to play and put together a good performance,” said Davis. “I'm a little disappointed we didn't get more from it, but also happy at the way we played.”

On Wednesday, the Dynamo won a U.S. Open Cup match for the first time since 2010, reaching the fourth round following a 2-0 win against FC Tucson of the PDL. Alex Dixon put the Dynamo on their way with a 26thminute goal and Giles Barnes sealed it with a late free kick goal.